ST. PAUL, Minn. – The 1-seeded University of Northwestern men's basketball team welcomed no. 4 seed, St. Scholastica to the Ericksen Center for Wednesday night UMAC semifinal action. Despite downing the Saints, 81-68 in Saturday's regular season finale, tonight's match-up featured a different outcome. St. Scholastica ended UNW's six game head-to-head winning streak and 13-game season win streak to record an 85-82 semifinal upset. This marks Northwestern's first time falling short of the UMAC Championship since the 2009-2010 season.
 
The Eagles fall to 22-7 on the year, while St. Scholastica improves to 15-12 as they head into UMAC Championship play on Saturday.
 
Following a scoreless opening two minutes of action, Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) got to the lane to put the Eagles on the board. UNW committed an unprecedented nine turnovers in the opening half as the Saints took their first lead at the 13:14 mark (12-11).
 
The Eagles went back on top following a flagrant foul on Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) – who drained both free throw attempts. The Eagles got the ball and Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) connected on an out of bounds play to put UNW up 17-14.
 
Kaemingk sparked the Northwestern scoring efforts, putting 12 points on the board in the opening 11 minutes. The Saints went on a scoring run of their own to enter the half with a 40-32 lead following a last second three-pointer from Collin Anderson.
 
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) continued to carry the Eagles offensively to start the second, scoring the first seven of nine points for UNW. Down by 12 (57-45) with just under 12 minutes remaining, Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) got to the lane to score an and-one. He drained the free throw to cut the deficit to nine.
 
Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) connected on a deep three from the wing to make it a five-point game (59-54). He did it again, cutting the lead to four with under nine to play before Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) fed off the momentum, draining a three from the corner to keep it going. A Youngberg floater in the paint cut it to two (64-62). Following a series of back-and-forth scoring, the Eagles tied it up on a turnaround jumper from Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) (68-68), but that would be as close as UNW would come.
 
The Saints pulled ahead 77-72 following an and-one with 2:35 on the clock and would respond with another on their next possession.
 
Despite the Saints pulling ahead as time was winding down, Noah Alm (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake) knocked down a deep three with 3.2 on the clock to make it a three-point game (85-82). UNW attempted to foul following the inbound, but it wouldn't be called and the Saints would run out the clock to secure the 85-82 semifinal upset. Scholastica will advance to the UMAC Championship on Saturday at Bethany Lutheran.
 
Kyle Kaemingk (Woodbury, Minn./New Life Academy) put together a career-high 27 point performance. He shot 10 of 15 from the field and pulled down 13 rebounds. Alm added 17 points (all coming in second half action). Solomon Bach (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) finished with 15 points, while Michael Moore (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) and Tanner Youngberg (Pocahontas, Iowa/Pocahontas Area) each tacked on 10. Youngberg secured his 15th double-double after pulling down 10 boards.
 
The Eagles suffered from three-point range, making just one of 14 in the opening half and connecting on just 13 of 21 free throw attempts. In a hard fought battle, the Saints committed just eight turnovers to UNW's 13. Scholastia added 33 bench points to the Eagles three.

Northwestern's season is not over as the Eagles have qualified for the NCCAA Postseason Tournament. Schedule and match-up information will be released soon on www.unweagles.com.